Loom-picker.



' No. 849,519. PATENTED APR. 9, 1907.

' J. WHITBHEAD.

LOOM PIGKER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26. 1906.

- spective view of the binder with its endsintraneous fasten'ings of any kind.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WHITEIIEAD, OF LAWVRENOE, I'IASSAOIIUSETPS, ASSIGNOR TO J. W. BARLOWV COMPANY, OF LAWRENCE, MASSAOI'IUSFJITS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

LOOIVl-PICKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 9, 1907.

Annlieatien filed September 28,1906. Serial No. 336,564.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JonN I'Vmrnnmn, a citizen of the United States, residing in Lawrence, county of Essex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Loom-Pickers, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to loom-pickers; and it has for its object the production of simple and novel means whereby the durability and life of the picker is 'reatly enhanced.

My invention relates particularly to pickers which consist of a plurality of superposed plies of suitable material such as leather, canvas, rawhide, &c.cemented together and usually subjected to pressure when green. In the use of such pickers the con stant impact of the point of the shuttle tends to loosen the plies and to cut or wear off therefrom small particles, and these particles often fly or are carried into the cloth, making imperfections which it is practically impossible to take out.

Riveting or the use of metal to strengthen and hold the plies together is manifestly impracticable at or near the impact portion of the picker, and a casing has sometimes been wrapped about the picker to assist in holding the plies together, but there has been great difliculty in securing the casing in place.

7 In my present invention I provide the picker with a binder or casing formed as a strip of suitable wear-resisting material, such as tough leather or rawhide, and I secure the binder firmly in place by interlocking the ends thereof, thereby obviating the use of ex- The various novel features of my invention will be fully described in the subjoined specification, and particularly pointed out in the following claims.

Figure l is a perspective view of a loompicker embodying one form of my present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the binder spread out to show the construction by which the interlocking is effected. Fig. 3 is a per terlocked.

Referring to Fig. 1, I have shown a wellknown form of loo1n-picker consisting of an elongated body a a, having a laterallyenlarged impact portion a and composed of a plurality of sheets or plies 1, superposedone upon the other and cemented together. Said plies may be additionally held together by rivets 2 at the upper and lower ends ol'the body, the plies being preferably arranged transversely relative to the path of the shuttle. The plies are made of leather, canvas, rawhide, or other suitable material, and when cemented together and while soft or green they are usually placed in a mold and subjected to pressure to thoroughly compact and shape the mass. I provide a binder or casing for the picker, and preferably the same is made to inelosc the impact portion of the picker as the part which is subject to the greatest wear and hard usage.

In accordance with the present embodiment of my invention I take a strip of wear resisting material 3, preferably rawhide or tough leather, of the proper thickness and wide enough to extend from top to bottom of the impact portion a, of the picker. The length of the binder is suliicient to go completely around the impact portion and have the ends overlap, and an elongated transverse opening 4 is made in one end of the strip. (See Fig. 2.) At the opposite end I form a tongue 5 by making lateral notches or slits 6 from the edges of the strip inward. The distance between the inner ends of the slits is slightly less than the length of the opening 4.

Before the binder is applied it is thoroughly softened and made pliable by soaking, thereby also elongating the binder somewhat, after which it is applied to the picker and wrapped around it, the tongue 5 being passed through the opening l in the manner shown in Fig. 3. The ends of the binder are thus interlocked and overlap, and the binder is then compressed or shaped to the picker by a suitable mold and allowed to dry.

\Vhen the binder has dried thoroughly, it presents a hard compressed casing, selflocked in place without the aid of any other fastening, the drying of the binder causing it to shrink tightly into place, and when hard it is a practical impossibility for the ends to separate, no matter how hard the wear upon the picker. The binder holds the plies of the picker firmly together at the point of impact, initially receives the impact of the shuttle, and as the plies cannot work loose the separation of small particles from the picker is prevented. The overlapped and interlocked ends of the binder may be located at the side of the picker, as shown in Fig. 1, or they may be at the back of the picker, either location being perfectly practical, as a smooth and unbroken facing for the front or impact face of the picker is thereby secured.

My invention is not restricted to the precise construction and arrangement herein shown nor to the specific form of interlocking for the binder, as changes or modifications may be made by those skilled in the art Without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A loom-picker consisting of a plurality of superposed plies of fibrous material secured together and shaped to present an en larged impact portion, and a binder formed as a strip molded around such impact portion and having its ends interlocked.

2. A loom-picker consisting of a plurality of superposed plies of suitable material arranged transversely relative to the path of the shuttle and cemented together, and a binder or casing of Wear-resisting material formed as a strip and molded about the picker and having its ends overlapped and interlocked.

O. A loom-picker consisting of a plurality of superposed plies of fibrous material cemented together and shaped to present a laterally-enlarged impact portion, and a binder of Wear-resisting material formed as a strip and compressed around the impact portion and having its ends overlapped and interlocked.

4. A loom-picker consisting of an elongated body having a broadened impact por tion and composed of superposed plies of suitable material cemented together, and a binder of Wear-resisting material formed as a strip, molded and compressed about the impact portion and having its ends overlapped and locked one to the other.

5. A loom-picker consisting of a plurality of superposed plies of suitable material cemented together, and a Wear-resisting binder formed as a strip and compressed about the picker and having an opening in one end and a laterally-slitted tongue at the other end, the tongue being passed through the opening to interlock the ends of the binder When the latter is in a flexible state.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN VVHITEHEAD.

- Vitnesses:

HENRY A. WEBSTER, Jr., JOHN H. BEVING-TON. 

